Over the past several years, public employees have faced increased criticism. In the post, I hope to address certain perceptions in comparison to what I have experienced.

First, within the past few years, government employees labor unions have been a contentious issue. Tennessee state employees are not unionized, so I am obviously not a union member.

Second, it is difficult to remove an ineffective government employee. While there are many positions within state government that are classified as “career service” (similar to civil service), I am an at-will employee. I serve at the discretion of the Comptroller; I have no more actual protection than at-will employees in the private sector. I think that government employees usually have a lower probability of being laid off, although that measure of security seems to have waned over the past several years.

Third, there is a perception that government employees are lazy. Some are; I am not. During court cases, I have often worked fourteen or more hours, several days in a row. Having also worked in the private sector, I have observed many of the same negative behaviors among unmotivated employees there.